Hercules

No Power Surge has ever blown me away. I find the rides really boring, even the one with the very long cycle at Knoebels (which for me makes it even more boring). That is just me though and you definately wouldn't find me paying over 3 dollars for one. That is just plain looney.

Good point. Nobody did say that it was bad. I think that is just reading really far into it. I think the best way of describing it was said tonight. I got off the ride and some guy said "That one didn't blow me away." He didn't say that it was a bad ride but just said that it wasn't fantastic.

I think that is a lot of people's biggest point there. The Jojo roll is the best part. They think it is pretty sad that the best part of the ride is before it even really starts. I don't hate the ride personally, I just don't think it is that great. I think I said that already though

Geeze Joe, you need to come up here to PA because the fair in my small hometown was better than this thing. We know how to do it up here. By the way, great pics, eventhough I still don't think that the Power Surge is that great of a ride.

For those of you who may not know, Dorney Park has been my home park, I would like to think, since I was about 3 years old (when I got my head stuck in a fence at the park, but that is a whole other story). I love the park. I have so many memories from the park. I can be very hard on Cedar Fair and Dorney for some of the decisions that they make sometimes, but deep down inside, I just can't get over my love for the park itself. Every time I make the turn on the off ramp of Rt. 78 and get the first glimpse of the park coming around the corner, I get a joyess tingle all throughout my body. To night was no exception... The park opened at 6, and I got there at about 6:05 because I had to make a stop at the bank. The parking lot was empty, as expected. I made the U-Turn and made my way to the season pass holder entrance. The season pass parking lot is now closed off and they are starting to bring in materials and starting to dig around the area in preparation for the new wave pool ("Wave Pool #2 is the name that they are giving it ) that they are putting into Wildwater Kingdom for next year in hopes of evening out the crowds a little more. I parked and then i was off. I entered the park and made my way around taking in the decor and such throughout the park. The entire park is decked out in corn stalks, pumpkins and a basic fall foliage, with some scenes around involving not so creepy ghosts and ghouls and tombstones and caskets. Basically, it is the same thing every year, in the same spots, but still fun to see. I went thought the midway taking pictures and then I made my way to an empty Hydra queue. I walked onto the back row and had a somewhat decent ride. I then made a lap around the rest of the park, snapping shots as I went. It was a nice day here in PA and the night was looking very promising. I went to the back of the park in hopes of getting some shots of the Fright Zone before they let the monsters loose, but they had already begun the fog, so it was impossible to see a foot in front of you let alone take pictures. I wasn't able to take my usual ride on Thunderhawk, as it closes at 6 during Halloweekends in preparation for the Fright Zone, so I made my way to Steel Force. Oh what a surprise, a walk-on :shock: I took the very back seat on the red train. Let me tell you, this ride was killer tonight. Some people don't like Morgan hypers and claim that they are rough and don't have "real" airtime, but I really like Steel Force, especially when it runs like this. I had never experienced a ride like that this on this coaster before. I was completely out of my seat all the way down the first and second drops, and it was not slamming me back down into the seat like it normally does. The train was running surprisingly smoothly around the track. And then... barely any mid-course brakes. Great ride. So then I venture off, taking more shots of the park. I made my way all the way throughout the entire park, so I figured that I would hop onto Talon. Dare I say, walk-on? Yup. I made my way to my favorite seat - back row, far left. Side note: I actually got a solo ride a couple of weeks ago on this ride when the park was emptier than what it was tonight and it was a great ride experience End Side Note. Anyway, I can always count on Talon to put a big smile on my face. However, it did not do it for me. I was highly disappointed and extremely confused. The ride seemed to rattle a lot more than what it usually does, and was not as intense as usual. The only good part was the final turn, which is the main reason why I enjoy the far left seats so much. Oh well, it must have just been an off night or something for the ride. I ended up going back to Hydra for a couple more rides to work my ride count on "The Monster Coaster" up to 61 for the season, which could be a lot more but the ride bores me after one time. I walked down a little bit to Center Stage and noticed that there was a large group of people sitting on the bleachers. Sweet, a show is going to start soon. I love the shows that the park puts together, especially the halloween shows. I took a seat, then, I realized what the show was: Haunted Illusions Starring The Magic of David Caserta. Oh dear God. I made the mistake of sitting through this one last year. Now, I know I said that I love the shows at Dorney, but this is the exception. This is by far the worst show of all time, point blank period. I don't need to see all of the shows in the world to know that this is the worst. I figured that I would give it a chance, but after 2 minutes, I just had to get out of there. Not only is the magic something that could be done by a 5 year old, but the illusions and mind games don't exactly take a rocket scientist to figure out. Hell, it doesn't even take Jessica Simpson to figure them out. Yet, this being Pennsylvania, people are still amazed Go figure. It's not just that, but he tries to be funny and just isn't. The fake plastic corpes that are around the park have more personality than this guy. But, I guess you have to bring back what the people want. If it works, it works. I was feeling a little hungry, so, where do I go when I need something to eat? Of course, Center Stage Fresh Cut Fries. How convenient. I love Center Stage Fries. I would live on them if I could, but just the fact that each fry brings me one step closer to a triple bypass at the age of 32 just isn't that appealing to me (you will come to know that I am a health freak the more you get to know me). They are a nice treat that I like to enjoy whenever I go to the park. They really are the best fries that I have ever had, and believe me, I have had fries at a lot of places. Sometimes they aren't that great, like tonight, but they are still really good even when they aren't at their best. Now, this brings up something else. Some people think that Dorney is a park with a great small, family park feel. I personally happen to disagree, probably because I have grown up with the park and have seen it evolve from a true small park feel to a Cedar Fair production. Nonetheless, I have my ways to get that feel back and these fries are part of that. I have a special little spot in the park that I like to sit that still have that small park feel to it. I sit there. I enjoy my fries. I take in the day/night and enjoy it for everything that it is worth and just reflect on life. It is a great experience, and it is exactly what I did tonight. After my fries, I took a spin on the Zephyr. This is not the haunted train that the Cedar Creek ("Freak") Cannonball is, but I just enjoy taking a spin on this classic and seeing some of the things that the decorated. Everything was in full gear. The Fright Zone was open, rides were going, people were having fun (well, the few that were there). Everything was in full, all out action... especially the fog machines. Let me tell you, the park went all out on fog this year. 3/4 of the park was filled with it. Even some of the parking lot was foggy. I guess it was kind of cool though. I hit up Laser for a nice ride of Anton goodness. I was never a big fan of the ride until this past Coaster Madness when I got two solo rides on it. I guess I just bonded with the ride or something. I'll be sad when it eventually leaves the park. After my ride on this, I took another spin on Steel Force. This was interesting because the fog took the ride as its hostage. The entire ride, except the helix, was covered with fog, making the ride that much better. The bunny hills on the back end of the ride were great because there was no way to see anything. It was just another unique experience to chalk up for the ride. I made my way around to the front of the park and caught another ride on Hydra, this time being a walk-on front seater. I usually don't ride the front seat, but come on, it was a walk-on. Well, actually, sometimes I don't even go to the front even if it is a walk-on, but, I wanted to get the visual with all of the fog and stuff. It was pretty cool. It was around 9:20 by this time, and I was getting a little lonely (not bored) so I decided to call it a night eventhough the park is open until 11 on Friday's during Halloweekends. I stopped at a gift shop just to see what kinds of great end of season buys I could get. With little money on me I couldn't get much, but I saw a few things that I will definately get on my next visit, one of them being a Talon golf shirt for 10 dollars. I ended up getting an indiviually numbered coin set: "Monster of the Midway". They are in a tin that contains a limited edition, numbered to 1500 coins of Steel Force and Talon. Not a bad buy for $4.95 marked down from $9.95. I was happy with the newest addition to my collection. I left the park on a happy note and made the 5 minute ride back to my dorm. Now, I'm sure you saying "It is a halloween event and you didn't do any halloween stuff?". Well, basically, the stuff doesn't really change, at least it didn't this year. Dr. of Doom was new last year but I'm sure was just the same as it was. ScreamWorks isn't worth the wait. The Magical House on Boo Hill is a kiddie thing. And the Cedar "Freak" Cannonball is just a joke and is pretty lame. Dr. of Doom, located in the Fun Zone Arcade on the main midway, is a 3D walk though with various scenes through out of crazy, messed up doctor's assistants doing weird things to patients and such. There are I believe 3-4 scenes. There are also like 2 people that jump out and try to scare you, which is decent. The rest is basically kiddie stuff, making it good for children to go through with their parents or others. FYI - the 3D glasses are an extra dollar, of course. ScreamWorks, located in the back of the park by Laser (where Chester Cheetah Land used to be years and years ago), was "new" last year too. I say "new" because they always had a haunted house back there. The weird thing was that they always took the haunted house down. This year, ScreamWorks was up the entire season. Oh well, back to the attraction. It is a walk through and is not that bad either. You can clearly see most of the "ghosts and monsters" and there are only like 3 people that jump out at you. Nothing too bad here, and I am someone that is normally not that great with walk throughs. The Magical House on Boo Hill is pretty good. I actually enjoy it more than anything else. It is not scary at all being for the little ones. I think it is executed pretty well and I think it is worth a stop in even if you don't have little kids. Cedar "Freak" Cannonball is just an altering of the C.P. Huntington train (Cedar Creek Cannonball) that is located over near the Thunder Cannon rapids ride. It is not that great. There is fog and stuff and some scenes and cardboard cut outs and such. If I remember correctly there are some lights and strobes and a couple of people that jump out, but nothing too thrilling. Even the little kids say that it is nothing. That is basically it. I just enjoy going to the park during Halloweekends because I have so many great memories from it and I love fall weather. If you go to Dorney, don't expect to get freaked out by the haunted attractions. If you go expecting something like that, you will be disappointed. Basically, just go to enjoy the day and surroundings. That is all I do and I love it. And yes, the "smoke" was coming out of the Hydra sign tonight. What can I say? He just looks cool. Run for your lives!!! Here comes that fog that turns you inside out again. Boo! This is always my favorite scene during Halloweekends. Any requests? Fright Zone entrance before opening OOOO, scary stuff. The Headless Hayman Those poor trout have to live in that! Hydra's cobra roll A nice couple taking a rest in one of the old school Hercules trains. Oh no, a big bat. McNabb, looking for Owens! Dr. of Doom Good, I hate that fountain. The entrance is just as ugly as usually, even with a Jack-O-Lantern on it. You know it is Halloweekends when you see this. Season Pass Holder Parking closed for the new wave pool

I totally unterstand what you are saying Robb, and I agree with you to an extent. However, I how to go with my buddy Joe in saying that it is bascially what they were looking for in terms of the ride itself, but the ride quality may be the thing that was slightly disappointing. At any rate, they WANTED a 9-11% increase in attendance, and that is what they got. Nothing wrong with that at all

I think you kind of misunderstood. The ride isn't really rough, it just has a little rattle to it. Believe me, it is smooth compared to most, just not as smooth as what some have experienced on a B&M.

That is the thing though, this is what Dorney wanted. They asked for it and B&M gave it to them. If B&M wants to build a coaster with insane forces and a little bit of umph to it, they still can and would. It seems that everyone overlooks some things and basically takes B&M for granted. We are so used to what they do that the amazing things that they do is seem as normal. Hydra is a mechanical marvel and a piece of B&M genius. The way that they used the terrain and designed that coaster is brilliant, but people view it as oldhat. They make things that could potentially be difficult look way too easy.

I prefer Talon by a lot. There is nothing wrong with that. I love Talon. It is the best ride in the park in my opinion. It would have been hard for Hydra to top it.

That rattling depends on the day and the seat. Sometimes it doesn't rattle at all, but on other days the rattling is horrible. I don't really think there is much that can be done about that though. Whatever, I'll ride it tomorrow night, but if anyone is at the park you will most likely find me in the back row, far left seat of Talon

I wouldn't want an Intamin either, but something like that would probably be the only way to get some sort of clone built these days, especially since that ride had such a history of brutality. It would take a little bit away from it, but I would be all over getting a ride on it. I think it would still be a beast of a ride. Hell, get S&S to do it. J2 was a rough and wild on all on its own.

I guess this is my calling on this site since my homepark has been Dorney since I was three. I personally "get" the ride. That is it, it is exactly what the park wanted. This is what Cedar Fair and Dorney wanted when they went to B&M, and that is what they got. It is not overly fast and intimidating, but something that the whole family can enjoy. Of course, the add campaign was a little misleading and such. I think that there was just so much hype around the ride that people were kind of confused. Of course though, it is not like they could have been like "Hydra: The Revenge, it's a baby coaster! And it's only at Dorney Park!". However, some people have gotten disappointed by the ride. That can be seen by the lines throughout the day - people ride the ride once and then that is it, an empty station awaits. My goal by the end of the season was to get 100 rides on it, but right now I'm at 58 with about 21 visits to my credit for this season. To tell you the truth, I was just plain bored with the ride. There were some visits that I passed up a ride on it eventhough it was a walk-on for every row. On opening day I got 19 rides in a period of about 4 hours. As you can see by the name, I was a major Hercules fan. Without lying, I can say that I entered the park having a little bit of bias towards the ride. But when I got on it, I was very open-minded. However, it just did not deliver for me. The Jojo roll was good and I was excited, but it just didn't give me what I wanted. I spent the first couple of months going to the park and trying to get to like it. Eventually, I ended up just accepting it. I can't say that I like it, but, I have accepted it. It took me a while, but I have. And that is where my "getting" the coaster has come into play. I have heard varies remarks on the coaster throughout this time from people at the park ranging from "Great ride" to "That was it?" It has basically been 50/50. And of course there are the people that have come up from Philadelphia all excited that they "conquered the beast", especially the teens and younger folk, which is what I think the park wanted anyway. They did something intense with Talon, and now they have Hydra to even things out. Overall, yes I was disappointed, but I understand why the ride is there. It is better to have that there than a lawsuit waiting to happen and a fiscal disaster in that Summers creation. It is a perfect fit for the park and exactly what the park wanted. I haven't been on it in a few weeks, so I'll be sure to get on it a few times tomorrow night at the opening of Halloweekends. I do have to say though, my girlfriend really liked it Jay "I still don't think that the dive loop and cobra roll should count as inversions" Willis

I knew that PKD bought the technology a few months back (I don't know if they are using it yet though) but I didn't know that anyone else was doing it. That is exciting. And those prices aren't as bad as what I would have thought, even if it is for like 2 minutes of footage. I was thinking in the 25 dollar range. I had heard about this kind of stuff like a year ago, so it is neat to see it being put to use.

Drachen Fire: I would pay 101 dollars And Hercules. God I miss that coaster Interesting stuff so far guys

The left side was retracked and they were working on the right side. I didn't get a chance to ride the left side after they did it, but I heard it was running better than ever. However, I'm still sure it sucked. Anyway, they are working on it, which is a good thing.

The only ride to ever have a nurse in the station... that is my kind of ride. Hey, just look at my name

^^^ It wasn't a waste to fix up the area for this year. The area looked really nice with flowers and everything. It is the small things like that that add up to be very big. It was one of the nicer areas in the park - looking over the water and seeing nice flowers and vibrant colors.

As of the last SF corporate conference call, SFGAdv's attendance was up 240,000 over ly (even while Kingda Ka was down for 6 weeks), so I'd say the strategy is definitely paying off. I really think they will try a similar treatment (thrills+families+themeing) at SFMM. That is because a lot of people still did not know that Kingda Ka was down. There were so many upset people that came to the park expecting the ride to be operating, and then ended up going to Guest Relations screaming "If it is broken, why don't you fix it?!?!" Ok, I'll put it out there, I am a SFMM basher. I'm sorry, I'm sure I will get pounced on for that, but, if they do start doing things right there like the theming and overall improvement, that would be a great thing.

Well, the thing is, they have that 2007 hotel that is opening up. They had to do something to bring attention to the park in hopes of getting the hotel off the ground and be successful. The first phase of the operation was Kingda Ka and the Golden Kingdom, which although it can be debated whether it was all successful in terms of many things, it certainly brought a lot of attention to the park. This is stage two: main thing being a record breaking wooden coaster. Although it might not carry as much glitz and glamour, it is definately more solid and really fills the gap that Great Adventure has had - being a good wood coaster. Along the way they have improved a lot all the way around (cleanliness, ride operations, security etc.) Of course they still have a long way to go with that stuff, but they have definately improved this year as compared to the last few years. So basically, it is just to bring people back to the park and get them interested and thinking that it could be a true destination park. Well, a family destination park to be more specific.

Yes, that has been a known thing for a while her locally. Personally, I hate the station, but, I guess it was economical in a sense.

Well, if it is a 3-pack, you would only get one of those anyway Kingda Ka + El Toro = 2 That whole not being able to get back to Medusa was a pain in the butt having to walk all the way around and everything. I hated that. It's a good thing I'm in excellent condition because that was a hike and a half to get back there without the use of the bridge.

Yeah they probably should keep those rides, but I have a bad feeling that they might not. They are probably going to the graveyard eventhough they could probably fit in well with the theming of the new area and stuff. From what I have heard, they are gone for good. Hopefully the park will have something up their sleeves to compensate for it.

I have no idea why they took this ride out; it was probably the best of the new flats. (not many of them left) I'm sure Chaos will be removed as well next. Any idea why they removed the Frisbee, Double Inverter, and the Huss Jump? It's not as though they didn't have the room. Chaos will go for sure. I have no doubt. And don't think that the changing is going to stop here. I have a good feeling that Stuntman's Freefall is close to the top of the list (maybe a drop tower of some sorts there?). Everything is looking up for Great Adventure.

Oh man, that stinks. Jumpin' Jack Flash was pretty cool. The amazing thing is how Evolution "mysteriously" started working when it was moved to SFStl. Crazy. Everyone has been complaining around here (as in locally around the park and stuff) that the flats are leaving and starting to die and they need to put new flats in and stuff. I agree, but if they are going to go for that kind of quality, such as SWAT, they can take out Rodeo Stampede and Taz Twister. Screw those rides. I just hope that the capacity of the park improves and stuff because the place can get way too crowded.

Er, actually, Evolution did run. I rode it quite a few times in its short life at the park. Granted, it wasn't open much, but it was definitely open. The only ride from that entire enormous ride package that I don't remember ever working was the Spinnaker. Y'know, the Spider/Octopus/whatever ride. Now if only they hadn't taken out the Pendulum. I'm with you on SWAT though. Always good to see another flat ride pop up. Not to mention El Toro. DanK I know that they had it open. I didn't mean it like that, I just meant that it wasn't running that often. Sorry to confuse you. It looks like a completely new Great Adventure, and I like what I am seeing.